Presidio Offers George Lucas Different Spot for Museum

After rejecting proposals from filmmaker George Lucas and two other contenders to redevelop a prime site in the Presidio, the San Francisco national park’s board has offered the Star Wars director a different location for his planned museum of popular arts, the San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times write.

The Presidio Trust said Monday that it would put off redeveloping the waterfront eight-acre parcel where Mr. Lucas had proposed constructing a $700-million institution to house his collection of illustrations, Americana art, and movie memorabilia. Trust Chairwoman Nancy Hellman Bechtle said she is urging the filmmaker to consider a site next to a building that served as the former military base’s hospital and more recently housed his Lucasfilm studio.

Ms. Bechtle said the trust’s objections to the size and style of Mr. Lucas’s planned Beaux Arts museum applied only to the previous site, near a popular field with commanding views of the Golden Gate Bridge. “We really want him to stay in the Presidio,” she said. A spokesman for Mr. Lucas said he is weighing the trust’s proposal and potential sites in other cities.